In the aftermath of a building boom dogged by poor planning and a tribunal that found corruption rife in the system, the Cabinet has approved proposals to establish a planning regulator.

The thumbs down has been given to a district heating system capable of providing cheaper hot water for 5,000 homes in Killarney.

Planners are confident of getting the green light from An Bord Pleanála to build a new town in Co Cork, despite the current economic climate.

An Bord Pleanála has given the green light to National Roads Authority (NRA) plans for a €100m upgrade of the Jack Lynch Tunnel/Dunkettle interchange.

Construction of a €10m Tesco outlet in Bantry, Co Cork, is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2013 after An Bord Pleanála gave permission for the 25,000 sq ft facility at the weekend.

Prize money for the coming year will be maintained at the current levels, the Curragh redevelopment will return to the agenda and a new programme will be drawn up to attract new owners to Irish racing.

More than 40 consultants have called for the long-delayed national children’s hospital — set to be based at St James’s — to be directly linked to a leading maternity site.

St James’s Hospital is set to win the long-running race to be named the new National Children’s Hospital site.

The Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and health minister have met to discuss the proposed location for the national children’s hospital.

The national children’s hospital proposed for St James’s in Dublin could run into IT and planning trouble but the Government has insisted it is the best choice of location.

Some 19 years after a national children’s hospital was first mooted, and three years after the first deadline to build it was missed, St James’s has become the project’s site.

The decision to locate the national children’s hospital at Dublin’s St James’s Hospital is to be welcomed, not because the location is head and shoulders above other options but because this saga has dragged on for far too long.

The national children’s hospital will be delayed beyond 2016 — and now legal uncertainty surrounds the charity established to raise millions for the project.

Bord Pleanála has given the Diocese of Kerry permission to carry out some, but not all, of the extensive renovations and reordering, it considers necessary to the parish church of St John in Ballybunion.

It was one of the signature deals of the boom.

One of Ireland’s most expensive local authority’s has rejected claims it wasted more than €40m on botched planning projects since 2005 by failing to follow its own development plan.

Permission has been granted for a large windfarm on the Cork-Limerick border which will be run by ESB Wind Development.

A campaign against a sludge plant on the River Blackwater in east Cork accepting hazardous waste was justified following a Bord Pleanála ruling, a community action group has said.

The road system in Kerry is unlikely to be maintained to an acceptable level this year, due to council funds being slashed by €22m.

A collapsed gentleman’s agreement stands to cost the Irish Greyhound Board another €1m because it decided to compensate a development firm for an adverse planning decision.